Use an IVI Switch step to connect and disconnect paths and routes , to determine the connectivity of two switches or the state of a route, and to query the state of the switch module or virtual device. A switch is an instrument that can establish a connection between two I/O channels.

The IVI Switch step type provides a high-level programming layer for instruments compliant with the IVI Switch class and NI Switch Executive virtual devices. The IVI Switch step type also supports IVI-compliant instruments that can perform trigger scanning and trigger-synchronized path connection and disconnection.

NI Switch Executive is an intelligent switch management and routing application you can use with TestStand to interactively configure switch devices from multiple vendors as a single virtual device. You can specify intuitive names for each channel within the virtual switch device and use an end-to-end routing feature to automatically find switch routes by selecting the channels you want to connect. Refer to the National Instruments website at ni.com/switchexecutive for more information about NI Switch Executive.

Use the Switching panel on the Properties tab of the Step Settings pane to connect and disconnect routes required for steps in sequences. When you install NI Switch Executive, you can also use the Switching panel to specify a switching action TestStand performs around the execution of the step.

Configuring the Step

Use the Edit IVI Switch Step dialog box in the TestStand Sequence Editor and in a TestStand User Interface to configure the IVI Switch step.

Step Operations

The IVI Switch step type supports the following IVI Switch class operations:

• Connect/Disconnect —Connects or disconnects the Source and Destination channels in the switch instrument.
• Configure Scan —Configures the switch instrument for scanning.
• Start Scan —Initiates a scanning operation.
• Wait —Blocks operations until all switches debounce for an instrument.
• Configure Switch —Configures channels as Configuration or Source channels and configures specific paths between channels.
• Send Software Trigger —Sends a software command to trigger the instrument during a scanning operation.
• Abort Scan —Cancels a scanning operation.
• Get Information —Retrieves low-level status and information from the instrument.

The IVI Switch step type supports the following NI Switch Executive operations:

• Connect/Disconnect —Connects or disconnects switch routes for a virtual device.
• Wait —Blocks operations until all switches debounce for a virtual device.
• Get Information —Retrieves low-level status and information from a virtual device.

Step Properties

In addition to the common custom properties , the IVI Switch step type defines the following step properties:

• Step.LogicalName —The logical name expression.
• Step.InstrOperation —A value that specifies the operation you configured the step to perform.
• Step.SettingsSource —The name of the property or variable where the step loads and stores the settings for the operation.
• Step.IviOperation —A value that specifies the operation you configured the step to perform for IVI Switching mode.
• Step.ConnectDisconnect —The settings for the Connect/Disconnect operation.
• Step.SoftFrontPanel —The settings for the Show Soft Front Panel operation. The data type of this property is NI_IviSoftFrontPanel.
• Step.GetInfo —The settings for the Get Information operation.
• Step.ScanningConfig —The settings for the Configure Scan operation.
• Step.Wait —The settings for the Wait operation.
• Step.Configure —The settings for the Configure operation.

See Also

IVI Step Types

Switching (Example)